Our trip began with the Union/Pearson Express Train which took us to the airport. In seven hours we were in Amsterdam and then ten more took us to Cape Town and our driver who brought us safely to our place ....... It is lovely and rustic and has a huge jacuzzi tub and a veranda on the roof. It was great to get into the sixtieth bed since leaving Ottawa on November 30, 2014. We slept late and then, had coffee and omelets at Origin. We walked to the harbour and enjoyed the sights and the Ferris wheel ride. Oh, we had a discount because we are seniors. Since my last birthday, the government has been paying me to be alive. Yay. We shopped for some food and came home for a quiet evening.
We had a face time session with Brienne and Claire. She has completed her courses for this term and did very well. Sheryl, who is in Port Elizabeth on business, sent some emails. She and Neil will meet us in Cape Town on Friday. Grant has been offered a new position as a procedural clerk in the House of Commons, which is exactly what he was hoping for. Details are still scant but he will begin on May 26th (which would have been Gladie's bd). Yay.
Thursday, I had to sleep in so instead of a Hop On Hop Off tour,we went to the District 6 museum. Our guide had been a young man when the powers decided that the whole district should be moved to townships. He was allowed to return in the last few years but is a tad bitter. All of the rest of his family has passed on. It is quite sad all the things that happened during Apartheid. The decision to give the land back smacks of similar things in Canada.
We had coffee and a steam dog at "Truth". I usually don't eat hot dogs anywhere but in North America, but this one was delicious. On Friday, we had a motorcycle/sidecar ride. It was funny as I first noticed it and thought it would be a fun thing and then started to change my mind and then George decided that it would be fun and so we went off with a driver. We saw some lovely scenery and went up to Signal Hill. And on the top there were people doing parasailing. Maybe that should be on our bucket list. It has been a great time in Cape Town. Our driver from Tuesday, returned to take us to the airport to meet Sheryl and Neil. He was quite chatty and told us that cooking was his passion--gave us a lesson about cooking crayfish. He tended to talk with his hands at times so that was a bit disconcerting.
Sheryl and Neil arrived. While we were waiting there were two families reuniting with a travelling parent coming home. It was so sweet to watch how excited the children were to see the parent arriving. The arrival part of airports is quite heart warming. We rented a car and left for Franschhoek which is about one hour from CT. We were staying at a lovely winery hotel, Asara. We attended the literary festival--we all had tickets for four events over the two days. One of my sessions was a discussion about how the future is effected by the past. One of the authors wrote, "God, Spies, Lies"--I must read it. Even though I am starting to know a bit about SA politics, many times in this discussion, I felt a tad lost. I also attended a string quartet which included a pianist in the second half. Two of the other sessions that I attended were about authors talking about the processes of writing their books. So many books, so little time.
Today is Monday and we are in Namibia---flew from Cape Town leaving at 6:30 am which is way too early. We rented a giant 4X4 truck thing which will be useful if we get driving in the dunes and gravel roads. It is a Toyota, Hilux--turned out there were many of them at our hotel as there is some convention happening. Also, they are shooting an ad which we will likely see sometime. Namibia is on the Atlantic Ocean and is mainly desert. We had a lovely walk on the beach and now must go to bed.
Oh what a day--after breakfast on Tuesday, we were off to Sandwich Harbour and a Land Rover tour of the dunes. I can't express the amazingness of seeing sand dunes and more sand dunes and more sand dunes. We had an excellent driver who could drive down one dune and up the next and repeat and repeat. We climbed to the top--well, to be honest, George and Sheryl and Neil climbed to the top--I stopped in the middle and waited for their return. I made a sand angel. Neil jumped over the edge of a dune into much more sand. It is hard to stand on the top of a dune and realize that it is 110 meters deep. That is a lot of sand. We were surprised to see jackals, springboks, oryxes and many birds including flocks of flamingos. In the middle of the tour, we stopped for a champagne snack which included oysters--delightful, well, not the oysters! Sheryl said at the end of the day that things just kept getting better and they started our just fine. I would go on this tour again in a minute. Our driver was so keen--even seemed excited to see some of the animals--got his giant camera out and took photos, too. This was our very own piece of "Fury Road".
Our next day--after another lovely breakfast, George and I walked on the beach and checked out the market which was quite uncomfortable. The sellers were like flies on honey--we did finally buy a mask for Grant and were glad to have escaped with our lives. Then we rode quads in the dunes. I was quite frightened about this escapade--after the first few feet, I would have been happy to stop and we were still on the concrete. Anyway, our guide was excellent and very encouraging. It was scary going up the dunes but worse coming down. I learned later that when asked if we could go faster, he said that he didn't think Mama (Mama meaning me! Guess I have arrived to oldhood.) wanted to go any faster. I gained confidence as we went. We stopped in the middle and Neil went down the dune on a board for sliding--it was very far and fun for him. Then our guide went down to pick him up on his quad. It was so cold for a short while when the fog rolled in. Someone said that in Namiba, one can experience all the seasons in one day! We spend 2 hours driving in the dunes. I felt like I was glad to stop but would not have missed the experience for a minute.
Tomorrow we are off to a new location called Outpost and that is exactly what it seemed like. It was way darker than the farm ever was. We have two rustic, well equipped chalets. The trip here was mostly on gravel roads which Neil and our truck thing managed just fine. We had a lovely dinner and then checked out the stars. The moon is nearly full. We can get on the roof of our chalet to star gaze. We went to bed early as we were going on a balloon ride the next morning and have to leave here by 4:00 am. The balloon ride was spectacular-so much sand and mountains of rock. We floated along and the pilot brought our balloon down so the trees brushed the bottom of the basket. Then we had a marvelous, champagne breakfast at the bottom of a sand dune. Desert! Yay.
Our early rising meant a nap time for me while George organized photos and Neil and Sheryl had a walk around the site. We have been relaxing by the pool and doing email stuff. It is so lovely. Next day, we drove on the gravel, stony roads to Namib Park to see and climb the dunes. I wasn't planning to climb as by the time we arrived it was very hot. George and Sheryl and Neil climbed for 2 hours while I read and played Angry Birds in the shade. They were hot and tired when they returned but also exhilarated after the climb. The sand was really quite orange. We also walked on Dune 45 which was amazing. Our shoes were too small because they were of the fine sand. It is still difficult to take in all the dunes. What an amazing country.
Alas, our last day in Namibia is Sunday. We are now in Pretoria after six hours on very bumpy, gravel roads, one place there was water over the road. That is the most water we have seen here. They haven't had rain in 4 years. Anyway, back to the travel, we arrived at Windhoek which is the capital and from where we will fly to Jo'burg. Our flight was uneventful which is always nice. We picked up the car and are now getting settled in our usual room at Sheryl and Neil's. Yay. We have been en route since 8:00 this morning and it is 21h00 here. While they go to work, we will have a quiet day tomorrow. Namibia was the best.
Three days of relaxing--we hardly strayed from this place. I did spend one day following a watercolour painting course--did two lessons. Yay. George has been sorting photos. We walked to a nearby shopping centre for coffee, groceries and a haircut for me.
We attended a Quiz night at the High Commission. Our group, called "The Wheat Kings" won a prize for being last. Maybe because the questions were tough and certainly, trivia is not a strong point for me. Anyway, I meet a colleague of Sheryl's who knew of PattiCakes in Ottawa. Small world.
And now we are off to Bushfire Music Fest in Swaziland. The car is packed with stuff because we will be "glamping" while at the festival. The border process was interesting. We had to show passports and get the car approved on the way out of SA and again on the way in to Swaziland. The lines were long because many were going there as well. Our wait was a tad shorted because the car has a diplomatic licence and both S & N have diplomatic passports. We were travelling there with five friends of Sheryl and Neil's. Unfortunately, the roads were bumpy and uneven in places and the other carload had an accident. (I will refer to them by the first initials because I forgot to get permission to use their names--V, D, Y, M, L) We were following and when we arrived their car was in the ditch, going the wrong way. What a shock to learn that they had got caught in gravel and flipped over and then landed on the tires. Miracle of miracles, no one was hurt except Y had a very sore neck. Oh, yeah, and it was dark--darkness comes really quickly and we were in the middle of nowhere. So what to do? A few cars stopped and one guy said he would call the police and report the accident. So while Sheryl drove D, Y, and L to the nearest clinic which was forever away. (George and I went too.) Neil and V and M stayed with the car to wait for the police which took forever too. We spent many hours at the clinic and Y ended up with a neck brace and the others were OK. Interesting fact: the private clinic we went to didn't have a radiologist to read the x-rays so they sent them by phone to L's father who is a radiologist in Chicago. They also sent the results to a radiologist in SA. Meanwhile, back at the accident car, the three were giving statements and the police were writing things and looking and were very helpful and kind. A tow truck finally arrived and the driving agreed to drive them to Bushfire grounds. He then towed the car to the SA border and the insurance guys would get it the next day. Riding in the tow truck: the two women shared the seat with the driver while Neil stretched out in the box and viewed the stars. Trucks here are called "Buckies". By the time we all got to the "glamping" place it was midnight.
Now let me talk about that--"glamping" is just camping in tents with cots and sleeping bags and dark. The write-up was a stuff up! (This is a new expression learned in relation to the border crossing). Anyway, George and I got into our tent and it was dark, very dark, and also cold as it is winter here and the temperatures go down around 9 degrees or less at night. Imagine us stumbling around, putting something down and loosing it and maybe never finding it again and it was dark even though we had flashlights. Wait a minute, we hate camping even if it is called "glamping". I put on many clothes and zipped up my bag and put my head inside like a turtle and tried not to move much. Good that morning came. Oh, the good news was that we were so close that we could walk to the events, but the bad news was we could hear the music until 3:00 am. I think I won't talk about the bathrooms and the showers because George says that was too traumatic.
We had a delightful day listening to many bands and cruising the food court and the market place and eating. It was 22h00 and we were waiting for a special band to begin and George went looking for a bathroom, I was cold so I moved nearer to a table that had a heater. There were two women sitting there and a man standing. I asked if I might sit to get warmer and that was fine. I said I would move when the man wanted the chair. They were from Limpopo which is a province in SA. Anyway, the group was quite dozy waiting for the band to begin. Finally I asked the man if he wanted the chair and wait for this, he said, "No, you have it because you are old". I was warm and willing to play the old card in order to stay near the heater but felt a tad hurt. Do I really look that old? We chatted and he was surprised that we were from Canada. (English was not his first language so our conversation was short and really he didn't look much younger than me.) Anyway, when the band started, the other mate and my mate arrived and we all danced around and enjoyed the music.
After the band player, we walked home to enjoy another night glamping. Did I mention that breakfast next morning was better than Saturday morning's which was awful? There was light at the end of today's tunnel, we are moving to a guest house for Sunday night. Yay. We enjoyed some more bands and missed some as they was a "stuff up" at the border and they didn't arrive. Who would have thought crossing the border would be such a big deal. V who owned the crashed car spent the day shuttling to the airport and around getting a rental car that they could all drive home in. By 20h00, we had all arrived to the Guest House which was lovely and they served a very delicious meal. It was a table d'hote and we could order small plates and taste everything. What a delightful time, good food, good company and fire places. At one point in the meal when we were discussing travel, D said, "When I get big, I want to be you (ie me)!" She was wise not to say, when I get old!
Next morning, which was Monday, we had a delicious breakfast and were on our way from Swaziland. We stopped at a glass factory where they make beautiful things using recycled glass. We had to buy a few things, including a glass elephant. Imagine buying an elephant when I don't have a house to display it in. Oh, well, S & N will enjoy it on our behalf. It was great to be back in Pretoria and home again. What an unforgettable weekend, including these great friends.
Our many driving trips, were made much better because we listened to podcasts and a Sherlock Holmes series that Neil had downloaded. We also listened to Cat Stevens which is a fav for us all.
Wednesday when Rose comes to tidy, George and I took the Gautrain to Jo'burg. We had planned to go to the Rosebank to shop but there was a stuff up between there and Sandton, so we stayed at Sandton. I found a pair of black leggings, a cozy pj for Sheryl, but no runners. The sizes are different and I was looking for black ones so they could also be a bit more dressy. My current runners are done--all that sand in Namibia.
We are discovering that it is possible to walk somewhere in this neighbourhood although we may have been the only white people who walk anywhere. Our first walk was to a shopping centre where I got a hair cut. The hair washer person also massaged my neck and hands which was lovely. She also brought me some magazines which were written in Afrikaans. We had coffee as well. Yesterday we had coffee at Woolies (Woolworths is an upscale grocery store and sometimes clothing shop here.) Our young waitress cleared up the value of Rand coins for us but was disappointed that we didn't have any Canadian money to show her. Then we shopped at the "Housewives' Market" which is at the other end of the scale and has large quantities of stuff including nuts. We bought nuts to make granola which is a fav of Neil.
Had some relaxing days--I am delighted that I have done up to Lesson 7 in my wc painting book. I have been moving the patio table into the sun and painting until my heart is content. I watched a Quebec movie called "Lawrence Anyways" about a transgender man and the trials of change. Interesting and sad and somewhat complicated.
Our wonderful time here is fast speeding away. We had many lovely meals together and enjoyed many laughs. We will miss Sheryl and Neil but will see them briefly in Ottawa when they are in Canada to celebrate the anniversary of Neil's parents. Next stop-Paris!
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